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Invitation To Christian Discipleship

by: William H. Lawson, Jr.

Publication date: 2023-06-11

Topics: Bill Lawson, Briensburg, Christian, Religion, Sermon, Inclusive, Lectionary, Bible, Heaven, Methodist, 2nd Sunday of Pentecost, Invitation, Discipleship, Follow Me, Genesis 12:1-9, Psalm 33:1-12, Romans 4:18-25, Matthew 9:9-13

Collection: opensource

We and all people are offered the same personal invitation of Christ as Matthew and others in the Bible, “Follow me.” It isn’t possible for us to follow Jesus physically, but his first followers only were able to do so at the very beginning of their discipleship. Most of their lives were spent following Jesus spiritually, just like we are invited to do. We feel the Holy Spirit moving within and among us. Her love stirs our hearts, drawing us ever more deeply into our relationship with Christ and each other. Just as Jesus promised, she teaches and guides us to respond to the impressions she makes in our hearts and minds, constantly inviting us – “wooing us to heaven,” as Philip Bliss wrote in his hymn, “Wonderful Words of Life.”

The invitation to Christian discipleship is not a one-and-done demand but a continuing attraction, new and fresh every day. I hear the invitation of Jesus not like a command but like the lyrics of John Denver’s love song with the same title, “Follow Me.” Don’t you just want to take Jesus' hand?